Saturday 28 September 2013

Batman/Superman #3.1 Doomsday Review

Writer: Greg Pak
Artist: Brett Booth

Besides maybe the Riddler Villains Month issue this was the one I was looking forward to the most as I have really been enjoying the series so far, and when I heard that Brett Booth would be working on a story arc following this issue I was even more excited about seeing his artwork on it.

Plot


The House of El remember Doomsday and the damage he caused.

Review


This was a very good issue, as although it didn't amaze me as much as I hoped it would, it was still a brilliant issue. Greg Pak has been a bit inconsistent during Villains Month, as although all the issues he's written have been good, they have all varied in overall quality. He did however do a great job of introducing Doomsday to the New 52, as although this wasn't quite the story that I hoped it would be, it was very exciting at times, leaving a lot of possibilities for the future. There was also a lot of drama in this issue, and Pak handled the character interactions perfectly as they were very interesting. The tone of the issue was also brilliant as it managed to be dark and mysterious whilst also being lighhearted at times.

The best part about this issue was easily the artwork, and Brett Booth produced some of his best artwork in this issue. With Booth being DC's go to guy for re-designs and tweaks I was looking forward to see his re-design of Doomsday and I wasn't disappointed. Booth has draws some extravagant characters in the past but the beautiful detail in this monster was something else, as he managed to get the look that everyone knows whilst adding in his own unique touch, and I think these changes made Doomsday look even more ferocious. The other characters were also drawn perfectly, and I especially loved how he drew Zod and Kara Zor-El as both showed brilliant emotion.

Now the thing that I was looking forward to the most in this issue was seeing Doomsday, and although what we get to see is amazing, the amount of time he appears in the issue is slightly disappointing. Pak did however do a great job of showing his legend, as although we didn't get a proper origin story for Doomsday, nor a full on attack from him we still get to see just how ferocious he is, and how much destruction he can cause.

Another villain made an appearance in this issue, as Zod, who Pak wrote an issue on earlier in this month would appear for a short time. Now this appearance doesn't initially have a lot of impact, but there is more than initially meets the eye. Now I won't go into any more detail as to avoid spoilers, but I personally really enjoyed the appearance of this villain, and although I would rather have loved to have seen much more of Doomsday himself, it was nice to see Zod, and given the fact that they'll both be in Superman/Wonder Woman it was to see them both in the same issue.

Zod would not be the only well known Superman character to make an appearance in this issue, as a young Kara Zor-El, who is better known as Supergirl would ask her father Zor-El about this monster. Now this was in my opinion the appearance that made up for the earlier disappointment, as Pak managed to add so much emotion into this sequence, whilst also adding some lightheartedness and even a small bit of humour. I also enjoyed the change in tone that this sequence would give the issue, as it allowed it to be more diverse, and unique.

Final Verdict


This was a fantastic issue and although not quite the Doomsday issue I was expecting it was still very enjoyable. The issue also had a lot of drama and excitement, with some of the best artwork that I have ever seen from Brett Booth. There was also plenty of emotion and even a bit of lightheartedness, and if there was more of Doomsday this could have easily have been a perfect issue. Due to all this I'd highly recommend this, especially if you're fans of Pak's work, but if you are Doomsday fans I'd recommend caution as you may be disappointed.

Rating: 8/10

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